Tractor Show Photo Favorites

A collection of tractor show photos from the 2014 show season.

By the Farm Collector staff

| February 2015

Isaac Jerrel, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, learns about starting a stationary steam engine under the direction of Ed Hiller and Dan Daugherty, the museum's Area Coordinator, during the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in September.

Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.

When we asked readers to send their favorite photos from Show Season 2014, we counted on seeing some great shots of old iron: engines, tractors, implements. What we hadn’t counted on were the family ties, ties that wrap around this hobby as surely as a ribbon around a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

In the following pages, you’ll see some fine amateur photography. You’ll see engines and tractors from all over the country. You’ll see photos of antique equipment being put through its paces. And in many photos, you’ll see every conceivable family connection. Some of the best show family members with family heirlooms.

There is a fair amount of worry throughout this hobby about the dearth of young folks involved in shows and clubs. But as photos in this issue show, old iron is an activity that brings families together as perhaps little else does these days. When you start ‘em out while they’re still in diapers, they’re pretty much hooked for life.

And why not? This is a hobby that offers something for everyone. There are collectors and tinkerers, volunteers and builders, cooks and drivers and ticket-takers. Check out the photos in the following pages, and enjoy the family ties that hold this hobby together! FC

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Isaac Jerrel, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, learns about starting a stationary steam engine under the direction of Ed Hiller and Dan Daugherty, the museum's Area Coordinator, during the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in September.Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.

Case tractors and equipment are the feature at the 2014 Mid-Iowa Antique Power Assn.'s Steam Plowing & Threshing Show in August in Marshalltown, Iowa.Photo by Ken Smith, Marshalltown, Iowa

An eight-horse hitch driven by Clark Miller, Dumont, Iowa, moves a building on the grounds at Heritage Park of North Iowa during the 31st annual Steam Threshing Days show in September.Photo by Pam Olson, Kensett, Iowa

A visitor from Australia and his friend pose for a picture that could have been taken 100 years ago. The photo is a souvenir of the 2014 Mid-Iowa Antique Power Assn.'s Steam Plowing & Threshing Show in August in Marshalltown, Iowa.Photo by Ken Smith, Marshalltown, Iowa

Twins Jackson and Emerson Little, sons of Ryan and Megan Little, check out the water hopper on a 1-1/2 hp Stover owned by their great-grandpa, Richard Hembrough, at the Prairie Land Heritage Museum's annual Steam Show & Fall Festival, Jacksonville, Ill., in September.Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.

A bit of computer-generated wizardry makes father and daughter Jesse and Meagan Hiniker, Mankato, Minn., and a 1929 Minneapolis 39-57 owned by her grandfather (Dwight Yaeger, also of Mankato) stand out from the crowd at the 41st annual LeSueur County (Minn.) Pioneer Power Show in August.Photo by Dave Preuhs, Le Sueur, Minn.

Nick Raudabaugh and his son, Landon, share a moment in time as they watch Dale and Brian Anderson shredding corn with a McCormick-Deering steel husker/shredder during the Andersons' Rock Creek Relics Threshing and Sawing show in Rush City, Minn., in September.Photo by Judy Anderson, Rush City, Minn.

Travis Benner and his Alamo engine at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in September.Photo by Susan Eddy, Numa, Iowa

An exhibitor starts this Aultman-Taylor at the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Assn.'s 51st Anniversary of "Back to the Farm" Reunion in Boonville, Mo., in September.Photo by Melanie Boone, Macon, Mo.

Two steam engines pull plows at the Heritage Park of North Iowa 31st annual Steam Threshing Days show in Forest City, Iowa, in September.Photo by Pam Olson, Kensett, Iowa

Two heads are better than one: Richard Hembrough and Mike Healy work on the ignition on Richard's 2-1/2 hp Rock Island during the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in September.Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.

An engine built by Evans Mfg., Butler, Penn., on display at the 19th annual Eliot (Maine) Antique Tractor & Engine Show in July.Photo by Woody Cone, Rochester, N.H.

Kevin Hembrough has been around gas engines since he was born. Here, he is trying to start a 3 hp John Deere engine owned by his great-grandpa, Richard Hembrough, during the annual Mark Twain Old Threshers Reunion, Paris, Mo. Kevin is the son of Richard and Sheila Hembrough.Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.

Eli Eddy, son of Chris and Penny Eddy, prepares to fill the oiler before starting a 25 hp Superior at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in September. The engine is owned by Chris, James, and George Eddy.Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.

Avery Brockmeyer with his engine display at a show near Blue Grass, Iowa.Photo by Susan Eddy, Numa, Iowa

Harold Flatmoe and Brian Flatmoe (on the binder), both of Meadow, S.D., with Harold's father's International Harvester binder, and Wade and Pearl Hofer on Pearl's father's Farmall B, binding this year's wheat crop. The demonstration is part of the 2014 Coal Springs Threshing Bee near Meadow, S.D., Sept. 26-28.Photo by Wade Hofer, Meadow, S.D.

Sara Thomsen, age 8, Pierce, Neb., gives her full attention to the business of filling the oiler on a 6 hp Gade engine at the Mid-Iowa Antique Power Assn.'s 30th annual Steam Plowing & Threshing Show, Marshalltown, Iowa, in August. The Gade is owned by Sara's grandfather, Gene Thomsen, Plainview, Neb.Photo by Jennifer Thomsen, Pierce, Neb.

International Harvester tractors are in no short supply at the 25th annual Prairie Homestead Antique Power Tractor Show in Belmond, Iowa, in August.Photo by Pam Olson, Kensett, Iowa

Woody and Shirley Penor arrive at the Coal Springs Threshing Bee, Meadow, S.D., by covered wagon. The Penors were participating in the Coal Springs Wagon Train in the days leading to the tractor show in late September.Photo by Wade Hofer, Meadow, S.D.

At the intersection of old iron and young love: After a young man proposes to his sweetheart in front of the grandstand during a parade at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in September, the couple seals the deal with a kiss.Photo by John Jensen, Knoxville, Iowa

A rare 1937 Case CCS is displayed by Fred and Larraine Etnier, Collins, Iowa, at the Mid-Iowa Antique Power Assn.'s Steam Plowing & Threshing Show in August in Marshalltown, Iowa.Photo by Ken Smith, Marshalltown, Iowa

Dale Anderson works on the hayloader at the Andersons' Rock Creek Relics Threshing and Sawing show in Rush City, Minn., in September.Photo by Judy Anderson, Rush City, Minn.

Antique locomotives run on regular schedules at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.

A line-up of Massey-Harris tractors at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in September.Photo by Pam Olson, Kensett, Iowa

Not one but two Stickney engines at a show near Ceresco, Neb.Photo by Susan Eddy, Numa, Iowa

A display of Gade engines at the Mid-Iowa Antique Power Assn.'s 30th annual Steam Plowing & Threshing Show, Marshalltown, Iowa, in August. The display is the work of members of the Thomsen family: Gene and Velma Thomsen, Plainview, Neb.; David and Jennifer Thomsen, Pierce, Neb., and Kristi and Casey Anderson, Wayne, Neb.Photo by Jennifer Thomsen, Pierce, Neb.